PhysicsSemester 1 – Theory Review

It is crucial that you have a very solid understanding of the theories from first semester; this will not only help you do well on the multiple choice part of the exam, but it will also help you think about the problems. If you don’t understand the theories, you won’t know which theory/approach is appropriate for solving a certain type of problem.

The following questions are designed to get you thinking about the concepts that were covered during the first semester of physics. This is NOT a complete list of topics/terms covered, but it is a good place to start. You will need to review all of your notes as well as the appropriate sections of the book.

  1. What does it mean to say that “all motion is relative.” Why is it important in understanding motion?
  2. What is the difference between distance and displacement?
  3. What is the difference between average speed and average velocity?
  4. What is the difference between mass and weight?
  5. From a position (y-axis) verses time (x-axis) graph, how can you determine:
  6. The position of an object at a given time?
  7. The velocity of an object?
  8. The total distance traveled? The displacement of an object?
  9. From a velocity (y-axis) verses time (x-axis) graph, how can you determine:
  10. The velocity of an object?
  11. The acceleration of an object?
  12. The distance traveled?
  13. What is the difference between instantaneous speed and instantaneous velocity?
  14. What is uniform acceleration?
  15. What are keys words that describe no acceleration
  16. An object is thrown vertically upward. At the VERY top of its path what is its(a) speed? (b) acceleration?
  17. What is the difference between a vector and scalar quantity?
  18. What does it mean to “resolve a vector?”
  19. What is the component method of vector addition? When is it used?
  20. What is a trajectory?
  21. An object is thrown upward at an angle of θ (w/r/t the horizontal). At the VERY top of its path what is its (a) speed? and (b) acceleration
  22. For a projectile problem why is it important to keep the horizontal and vertical motion separate from each other? What do the two motions have in common?
  23. What is Newton’s first law of motion called? State this law. Explain what it means.
  24. What is the difference between mass and weight?
  25. Define the following forces:

a) Forceb) contact forcec) field forced) net force

e) unbalanced forcef) equilibriumg) static equilibriumh) normal force

  1. State Newton’s 3rd law of motion. Explain what it means.
  2. What two factors determine the amount of friction that will exist between two materials?
  3. What is the difference between static and kinetic friction?
  4. What are keys term in understanding which friction (static or kinetic) to use in a problem?
  5. What is the coefficient of friction?
  6. What is work and how is related to forces?
  7. For the following quantities, list which are scalars and which are vectors: distance, work, acceleration, power, force, time, velocity, speed, displacement, mass, weight.
  8. Know the units for all terms: distance, work, acceleration, power, force, time, velocity, speed, displacement, mass, weight.